


Aperitif

by bygoshbygolly



Category: Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers by Alyssa Wong
Genre: Complicated Relationships, F/F, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 18:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16225040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bygoshbygolly/pseuds/bygoshbygolly
Summary: Aiko's newest client changes everything.





	Aperitif

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ConvenientAlias](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConvenientAlias/gifts).



> I love this short story and I'm so happy someone requested it! Happy FemslashEx!

Aiko finds herself wanting to impress Ms. Seo-yun. Not only because the contract would be a huge win for her and Jimmy, but because there’s something about their potential client. She has a pleasant-enough smile, and sharp, bright eyes, but something about her makes the hair on Aiko’s neck prickle. It seems ridiculous to think of this short, older woman as “dangerous,” and yet that is precisely what Aiko’s instincts are telling her.

Even so, there’s something almost familiar about her, too. Aiko can’t quite put her finger on it, at first, but then Jimmy slides one of his less-than-subtle digs at a competitor in, and Seo-yun’s gaze flicks to just above his head, her head tilting, and Aiko realizes where she’s seen that look before.

_Jen_. Aiko always assumed she picked it up from her mother, that odd way of not-quite looking at people, but here’s Seo-yun with the same mannerisms. Did she grow up in the same area?

Seo-yun turns to her and smiles. Aiko shivers at the look in her eye.

“I think this will be a perfect fit,” she says. “I have a dinner party in two weeks; that should give us enough time to go over the menu and the other necessary items.”

Jimmy grins and glances at Aiko out of the corner of his eye. They’d been expecting to debate back and forth about why they’d be the best fit for Seo-yun; this is probably the easiest win they've ever had.

Naturally, they accept.

 

The NDA is a surprise. Then Seo-yun gives them each a piece of prosciutto-wrapped _something_ and braids their thoughts into orderly calm they can tie around their wrists, and Aiko’s world expands and shatters.

Surprisingly, she's able to accept that there are people who can see the thoughts of others relatively calmly. That they would eat those thoughts, well, why not? But the idea that Jen might be one of these people (because if Seo-yun is like Jen, then Jen must be like Seo-yun) and not have told Aiko...that hurt, sharp and cold like a knife to her ribs. It feels like betrayal, that Jen might think Aiko wouldn't still love her if she knew. And yet that's selfish to think that, Aiko knows, and that adds another layer of hurt.

She hears a small hum, and is suddenly aware of Seo-yun's fingers, still and warm, on her wrist. Aiko looks up. Seo-yun's eyes are dark and hungry as she watches Aiko. It's been some time since anyone looked at Aiko like that, and Aiko sways forward.

“Aiko!” Jimmy calls with cheerful bad timing. “You have the check out the kitchen!”

Seo-yun blinks and finishes braiding Aiko's thoughts, tucking away the fear and anger and betrayal until Aiko feels the most relaxed she's ever been.

“You should be careful,” Seo-yun murmurs as Aiko stands. “Those kinds of thoughts can be tempting.”

 

Aiko braids up her darker thoughts whenever she visits Jen. The process is a bit like meditation and a bit like make-believe-- she can't see her thoughts, not like Seo-yun or Jen-- but after that first bite of whatever Seo-yun gave her, she can feel them compress and shrink, and in the end, she's left holding a rope of something she can almost see out of the corner of her eye. It isn't easy, but she can't let Jen know what she knows.

Every time she comes back from Jen's and unties the thoughts from around her ankle, she swears they've gotten longer.

 

Aiko's not sure if Seo-yun tastes her thoughts when they kiss; she's not sure if she would notice. How can you tell if someone has taken your petty jealousies and bitterness between their teeth and swallowed it down? Does it leave an empty space inside you, and would you even notice that emptiness, if you'd forgotten what used to fill it?

She doesn't know, and she doesn't ask. She just loses herself in Seo-yun's hungry eyes and biting kisses, and tries not to think of Jen.

She tries not to think about how she always feels lighter after a night with Seo-yun.

 

Seo-yun stretches in bed, the sheets pooling around her hips, as Aiko pulls her clothes back on.

“Oh,” she says, as if she only just remembered. “Next month we're having a new member join us. It'll be her debut, so I want everything to be perfect.”

Aiko freezes. It's Jen. Jen will be here next month, and see Aiko, and know how Aiko lied to her, has been lying for ages, about not knowing what she is. The fear is hot and jagged in her belly.

Another thought hits her.

If Jen is officially introduced to the society, what use will Seo-yun have for Aiko? There are other caterers in the city. Aiko knows that, for whatever else she might have been to Seo-yun, she was always a means of getting to Jen. And now, she might lose both the women in her life.

Seo-yun slides one arm around Aiko's waist, her other hand coming up to cup Aiko's jaw.

“There we go,” she murmurs. “That's perfect.”

She kisses Aiko, tongue flickering out to taste her pain, and Aiko allows herself to forget.


End file.
